Why £70m would be money well spent on Lacazette

Alexandre Lacazette has been linked with Arsenal for several years running.

Either in addition to Alexis Sanchez or to complement him, there is room for another world class attacking talent at Arsenal. But would Lacazette fit in the Arsenal style of football, or would he be another big name struggling to live up to his price tag with his new team, like Pogba this season?

He comes with a reported price tag of around €70 million. Would he be worth it?

Style of Play

The French striker has played for Lyon his entire career, so Arsenal would definitely be a step outside his comfort zone off the pitch. In terms of style and system, Arsenal have operated with a single center forward for some time now. Wenger typically uses a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, depending on how you look at it.

Lyon have often used a similar formation this season. The French club have a similar play style to “Wenger Ball,” a passing and possession style of play that Wenger has preferred except when counter-attacking is necessary.

He is a smaller and pacier player, and would offer an alternative to Giroud. A front three of Alexis-Lacazette-Walcott could turn into a blindingly fast, free flowing goal machine.

Prolific

Lacazette has been seemingly superb this season, with 22 league goals in just 23 matches.

The French league is by all accounts a lower overall standard of play than the Premier League, but that is still an impressive tally. Even more impressive is that these have come from only 38 shots on target.

But there is a catch: TEN of those are penalties. Twelve open-play goals is still a strong number (and he would still be a top 5 goal scorer in Ligue 1), but is it worth €70 million?

By comparison, that number puts him level with Radamel Falcao.

After Falcao’s less-than-successful spells at Chelsea and Manchester United, it is doubtful anyone would pay that sort of money for him.

However, Lacazette is over the 20-goal mark in the league for the third consecutive year. The lower percentage of open play goals will probably even out by the end of the season, as he continues to put the ball in the net.

And, he’s proven that he can bury it from the penalty spot!

The French international can also find the net from outside the box. Here is a screamer he scored against Roma in the Europa league:

Summary

Yes, he comes with a hefty price tag.

Yes, he doesn’t have as many open-play goals this year. But another world-class attacking talent to add to Alexis and Özil (fingers-crossed they stay) and improving the chances of ending the Gunners’ well-publicised league title drought is worth whatever they are asking for him.